Jane (centre back) and some of her team celebrate a great year at the Live Your Dream event 2010.

Originally I was approached about the Sales Leadership opportunity by an Avon Area Sales Manager on my way home on the school run. After a couple of weeks of thinking, I actually applied through an advert in the local paper. When I started

my youngest son was only four months old and I needed a career to fit with him, so I didn’t have to pay out for childcare. I had worked in payroll and sales ledger admin for 20 years and leaving my job to start Sales Leadership was a gamble. For the first couple of years my youngest son came out with me and I worked three short days a week. After two years I could afford to put him in a nursery one day a week; I used this as my sign up day and I used to go out leaflet dropping in my Area to get leads on other days. Now that he’s in school full time I am able to work at least three full days; I love the flexibility of being able to work part time hours and potentially earn more than some full time jobs!

There’s very little initial outlay and the more effort you put in the more you can get: more customers = more sales = opportunity to earn more!

I think it’s very important that Sales Leaders get on and work well with Avon’s Area Sales Managers. Team meetings, get togethers and opportunities to prospect together are all really important. I try to provide training and development for my team through

show, share and observe and setting goals and action planning.

I love the opportunity to achieve incentives

– they are a great way to get your team motivated. I find the Business Development Bonus is a great driver and encourages your team members, although I have also offered my own awards to those who have moved up through the levels of Sales Leadership. I have achieved the Top 20 Trip for the last three years, to Majorca, Monte Carlo and Berlin. I’ve also won a trip to Venice, a theatre break and a spa day through other incentives.

Thanks to my earnings from Sales Leadership we can take several family holidays a year and have been able to purchase a brand new VW EOS Cabriolet Sport. This meant that when my son turned 18 I was able to afford to give him my VW

Jane achieved a trip to Venice in a Sales Leader incentive.

Polo as his birthday pressie! We’ve also been able to afford new furniture, plasma TVs and laptops!

My daughter trains and competes in gymnastic competitions around the UK and is currently fundraising for an expedition to Borneo, so helping her is taking up a lot of my time. That’s what’s so great about the flexibility of Sales Leadership – I can earn and still be there for my family, who are my main priority.

With Sales Leadership you are running your own business and not just a job; if you don't look after your business no-one else will. My aspirations are to help my team achieve their dreams and help them as much as possible to move up the ladder to their next level. It’s important to never give up, set yourself targets and goals, and go for it!